Sainsbury's Delivery Pass and Gift Card - changes to terms & conditions

sierra17a

I have a Sainsbury's delivery pass and usually pay for most of my order using one of their reloadable gift cards. I have been doing this for years.

Last week when I placed my weekly order for delivery it had on it a £4.50 delivery cost added, despite me having a delivery pass. A phone call to their help line resulted in me being given a £4.50 voucher added to that order as it was, in their words, a mistake.

The same thing happened today. All was fine until I used the gift card which took the final total to pay below £40 and a delivery cost was added by them. Another call to their helpline and this time I was told it isn't a mistake and that they always put on a delivery cost when the final value, after all vouchers and discounts, falls below £40. I asked to speak to a supervisor as this is clearly not the case, at least not up until now.

I have just got off the phone with a supervisor who explained that they have made some minor changes to their terms and conditions (their words) and that a delivery cost will be added to orders under £40 after all discounts, vouchers, etc, including any payment by gift card. Wording to this effect is now on their website, although they do not mention the gift card specifically in this context.

flaneurs_lobster

Assume that you can reload the gift card with a discount/cashback hence using that payment method?

kimwp

It makes sense that vouchers, offers etc can bring the amount down, but to say that payment brings it under £40, regardless of payment type, seems bizarre.

Emmia

If the policy is that you've got to spend (final total, after all discounts) £40 to get free delivery, then you need to spend a bit more or not use the gift card 

Do you use a gift card because you can buy them discounted through work?

sierra17a

Emmia said:

If the policy is that you've got to spend (final total, after all discounts) £40 to get free delivery, then you need to spend a bit more or not use the gift card 

Do you use a gift card because you can buy them discounted through work?

Yes, many people get discounted top-ups on the reloadable gift cards either through work or via Blue Light card or Defence Discount Service and other similar schemes.  Until now the Sainsbury's Gift Card has always been treated by Sainsbury's as a cash equivalent but not any more. As I said, this is a recent change to their Ts & Cs that hasn't been formally announced by them to their customers.

flaneurs_lobster

sierra17a said:

Until now the Sainsbury's Gift Card has always been treated by Sainsbury's as a cash equivalent but not any more. As I said, this is a recent change to their Ts & Cs that hasn't been formally announced by them to their customers.

Probably need to qualify that a bit. Unless I've misunderstood:

For the purposes of providing delivery using the Delivery Pass the total spent must be at least £40.

This total will not include payments made by Gift Card.

So the Gift Card is still accepted by Sainsburys as cash equivalent EXCEPT when considering limits to Delivery Pass use?

Sounds petty and annoying, but there are often restrictions on gift card use at supermarkets (no fags, no fuel, no stamps, no lottery, no gift cards etc). 

Their scheme, their rules I guess. Apart from appealing to their better nature (good luck) maybe switch your allegiance to another supermarket?

Here's the bit from the Delivery Pass T&Cs

2.6 All orders are subject to a minimum order value of £40 after any discounts or non-Sainsbury’s e-vouchers have been deducted. Orders under £40 will be charged the usual delivery rate for the selected delivery slot as shown on our online booking page. 

I'd make the point that if they have changed the T&Cs to your detriment then you should be able to get a pro-rata refund if you cancel your pass.

They are choosing to define the gift card as a "non-Sainsbury's e-voucher". I'm wondering what a "Sainsbury's e-voucher" is? Any chance you can change the type of gift card you purchase from the rechargeable top-up to a one-off voucher? And if so, check if these would be accepted.

easyasonetwothree

I've been doing this for a long time too, gutted to hear they've changed the rules! Is it the T&C's of the delivery pass that have changed, or the gift card T&C's? 

sierra17a

easyasonetwothree said:

I've been doing this for a long time too, gutted to hear they've changed the rules! Is it the T&C's of the delivery pass that have changed, or the gift card T&C's? 

Its the Ts & Cs of the delivery pass that has been changed.

flaneurs_lobster said:

So the Gift Card is still accepted by Sainsburys as cash equivalent EXCEPT when considering limits to Delivery Pass use?

Yes, I was told I could still use the Gift Card at the checkout and pay the full amount using the Gift Card if I wanted to, but my domestic situation means that going to the store is usually not possible for me.

crumpet_man

I'm having this same issue and have contacted Sainsbury's customer services too.  In my opinion, the terms have not been changed or updated, as already noted above:  

2.6 All orders are subject to a minimum order value of £40 after any discounts or non-Sainsbury’s e-vouchers have been deducted

A Sainsbury's gift card is a Sainsbury's e-voucher and therefore NOT a non-Sainsbury's e-voucher.  So far I think the customer service people do not know what they are talking about and/or have been provided with incorrect information. 

From my initial live chat discussion I was informed there was an IT update to remove a glitch that meant when using a delivery pass and discounts and non-Sainsbury's vouchers were applied to an order which took the amount to pay under £40 that there would still be no delivery charge. 

IMO, in fixing that glitch, they have now mistakenly classified Sainsbury's e-vouchers as general vouchers.

I do not see how they can possibly argue that something clearly labelled as "Sainsbury's e-voucher" in a customers online account is a non-Sainsbury's e-voucher.

crumpet_man

flaneurs_lobster said:

They are choosing to define the gift card as a "non-Sainsbury's e-voucher". I'm wondering what a "Sainsbury's e-voucher" is? Any chance you can change the type of gift card you purchase from the rechargeable top-up to a one-off voucher? And if so, check if these would be accepted.

Ignoring gift cards completely, I was issued a refund voucher for my delivery charge and it shows in my online account as a Sainsburys e-voucher with a value of £4.50. 

When I apply that to an order of just over £40 (with free delivery) it reduces the balance to pay to under £40 which then adds a delivery fee of £4.50.  This is clearly an IT error but Sainsbury's are being very slow to acknowledge it.